By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, March 28, 2015 :

The Odisha High Court on Friday ordered an interim stay on the notification of the Odisha government for formation of the Rourkela Municipal Corporation [RMC] that included scheduled areas in its jurisdiction.

The directive of the court came in response to two separate writ petitions filed by the villagers of Jagada and Jhartarang panchayats who challenged the said notification as unconstitutional and not in conformity with the provision of article 243-ZC of the Constitution of India as well as Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Area (PESA) Act 1996 and Scheduled Tribes and Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest) Act 2006.

Talking to the media, petitioners’ counsellor Naresh Chandra Jena said the state government had announced the formation of RMC on November 14, 2014 after including some scheduled areas in its jurisdiction.

“It is pertinent to mention here that the constitutional provision relating to Municipality clearly speaks that the same is not applicable to the Schedule Area. In spite of that, the state government violating the constitution provisions and the provisions of PESA Act 1996 declared the merger of the above said 2 GPs in the newly formed Rourkela Municipal Corporation. Similarly, the FRA Act is yet to be implemented in those areas so there was resentment in the area,” the petition said.

Biramitrapur MLA George Tirkey, who is presently leading the demonstration of the tribals under the banner of Sundargarh Adivasi Mulabasi Bachao Sangha (SAMBS), said the Sangha decided to withdraw its 20-day long agitation before the Rourkela Municipality Office following the directive of the court.

Earlier, the state government had announced Municipal Corporation status to Rourkela Municipality which included these two tribal panchayats to meet the population criteria for the corporation.